MZ Novi Šeher arranged a rest area along the Lješnica river with park content

The context giving the project meaning

Novi Šeher, like many places in BiH, bears the consequences of the changed relationship between humans and nature - soil erosion, floods, pressure on the river, waste in green belts. The MZ Novi Šeher application opened with precisely that statement: today's economy is in conflict with the Earth's resources, and the response must be small, concrete steps that return to a space its role as a place for life, not only for exploitation.

This project was one such step - modest in scope but clear in goal: to turn a neglected strip by the Lješnica bank into an arranged, usable rest area.

Why this project logically came just now

An important detail from the documentation: the Lješnica river embankment had already been built, in cooperation with Civil Protection of ZDK. The space was stable, arranged for the basic purpose of flood protection, and was awaiting a supplement with park content. In other words, MZ did not start from zero - it was a second phase completing the whole.

Approached this way, the project was efficient per invested KM - heavily prepared infrastructure was already there, and with this investment a visible, daily-usable value was gained.

What was specifically gained

The rest area has all the elements of a smaller park:

• Planting of grass and trees on prepared terrain
• Park benches - the basic unit of space use
• Street waste bins - order and tidiness
• Three 1.1 m³ containers - capacity for waste systematically prevented from ending up on surrounding land
• Concrete planters with ornamental perennials (roses, hydrangeas, and similar) - for visual value throughout the season
• Certified park tree seedlings - a lasting plant base of the park that will provide shade, filter the air, and stabilise the bank over time

Such a package turned a once neglected strip into a space one comes to by will, not by necessity - for a walk, a break, a conversation, waiting for a friend, letting a child stretch.

Sustainability

The sustainability of this rest area does not depend on active maintenance of a large capacity. It rests on:

• Durable materials (concrete planters, standard benches, containers) - low maintenance, long service life
• A lasting plant base (park trees) - value grows over time, does not decline
• Local use - the rest area enters the community's daily rhythm, meaning informal supervision and care
• Logical placement by the river and the road - a natural place to linger, not something "sold" as an attraction

The project also secures investments by existing and new entrepreneurs in the wider tourist offer - an arranged public space increases the value and attractiveness of neighbouring hospitality and service capacities.

The message of the project

With this project, Novi Šeher did not try to be something it was not. No monument was raised, no fame was sought. A gap was filled that existed between what Civil Protection had done for the bank and what citizens can actually use.

This was a direct, practical approach, and that is exactly why it has a chance to last. When hydrangeas bloom for the first time along the embankment, Lješnica will no longer be just a river flowing through Novi Šeher. It will be a river one walks beside.